[Retric]

Considering many people can save money by installing solar power without incentives that's not actually true.

The problem with coal is not power production, it's the infrastructure of power distribution that makes going off grid so viable.

[emp_zealoth]

If you actually manage to go off grid then yes, maybe you are able to save. Good luck doing it without either massive lifestyle change or tons of capital for storage in most of the world.

Once you take the feed-in away the benefit is not so clear cut. Also, many people dump the externalities of home solar on everyone else (the negative spot electricity price) and then use cheap power from the grid for most of the 24h cycle

Where do you think going off grid is so viable?

[Retric]

For people like me that use less than 600kwh / month or 20kwh/day just about anywhere in the US works as long as you are not in an apartment. In the northern US you will want a solar hot water heater, but that's got a 2-5 year ROI.

Granted, my electric would only be 50-60$ a month so the savings is also not huge, but that still adds up to 9-11k in 15 years and panels last well past that.

PS: Solar quietly got really cheap, installation is often one of the major costs.